American Federation of Teachers
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| Full name | American Federation of Teachers |
|---|---|
| Motto | "A union of professionals" |
| Founded | April 15, 1916 |
| Predecessor | American Federation of Teachers and Students |
| Members | 1,597,140 (2014) |
| Affiliation | AFL–CIO, Education International |
| Key people | Randi Weingarten, president |
| Office location | Washington, D.C. |
| Country | United States |
| Website | www |
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is an American labor union that primarily represents teachers. The union was founded in Chicago in 1916, with Margaret Haley credited as its founder and first leader. A precursor to the group, the American Federation of Teachers and Students, was founded in 1900.
Approximately 60 percent of AFT's membership works directly in education, with the remainder of the union's membership composed of paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals. The AFT's affiliations include the trade union federation since its founding, the old American Federation of Labor until 1955, and the AFL-CIO.
AFT was founded in Chicago, Illinois, on April 15, 1916. By 1919, AFT had 100 local affiliates and a membership of approximately 11,000 teachers, which amounted to 1.5% of the nation's teaching force. In its early days, AFT distinguished itself from the National Education Association (NEA) by its exclusion of school administrators from membership. Facing opposition from politicians and boards of education, membership in AFT declined to 7,000 by 1930. During this period, the organization had little impact on local or national education policy.
AFT membership climbed during the Great Depression, reaching 33,000 by 1939. During the 1930s, AFT, whose members had historically been primary school teachers, saw influential college professors join the union. Also during the 1930s, the Communist Party gained influence within the AFT. In 1941, under pressure from the AFL, the union ejected three local unions in New York City and Philadelphia for being communist-dominated. The charter revocations represented nearly a third of the union's national membership.
The 1940s were marked by a series of teacher strikes, including 57 strikes that occurred from 1946 through 1949. By 1947, AFT had a membership of 42,000. The 1960s and 1970s also saw numerous teacher strikes, including 1,000 strikes involving more than 823,000 teachers between 1960 and 1974. AFT membership was 59,000 in 1960, 200,000 in 1970, and 550,000 in 1980.
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